Should You Buy Travel Insurance?

From time to time I come across mainstream media travel pieces that leave me scratching my head a bit. This time, an article in Forbes magazine suggests “It’s time to invest in travel insurance.” While that’s sort of a blanket statement, we decided to dig a little deeper. Should you buy travel insurance and what are the costs?

Travel Insurance Costs

According to the Forbes article linked above, a comprehensive travel plan for a $5,000 trip to Aruba for two will cost about $200. Furthermore, I priced out a $10,000 two week trip to Europe and the pricing came in around $400 for a comprehensive plan. As you can see, these don’t come cheap. Typical inclusions in a comprehensive plan are a $50,000 medical limit and up to $250,000 for medical evacuations.

Travel insurance is important if visiting a far-flung destination

Credit Cards & Travel Insurance

Now for some good news. Typically we sign up for premium cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve because it has a great rewards structure and premium benefits like lounge access. What many cardholders don’t know is that many cards include a comprehensive travel insurance program as well. In fact, the Sapphire Reserve includes trip protection up to $10,000 and medical evacuation up to $100,000. For full terms and conditions, you can visit Chase’s site here.

But what if I don’t carry the Sapphire Reserve card? Good news, Stefan over at Rapid Travel Chai put together a convenient guide of credit card protections. I’d recommend you take a look to see if your card is covered. Don’t forget, you typically need to book your trip with the card you expect coverage from. For this reason the Sapphire Reserve works great since it already offers 3X points on travel purchases.

Bottom Line

Admittedly, I don’t often think about travel insurance before taking off on our next adventure. It’s nice to know that my go-to travel card already includes a solid layer of protection. If you’re somebody that always buys travel insurance for a big trip, it might be time to consider a rewards card instead. You can simultaneously provide trip protection while earning bonus points and miles.